


The Annual Marketing Division Christmas Competition

by lunalius



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Australia, Alternate Universe - Office, Baekhyun is a panicked gay, Chanyeol is a good friend, Christmas, Christmas Party, Degrees are in celcius, EXO and BTS have a friendly rivalry, Huchu is briefly mentioned, If you're confused about why it's so hot during Christmas it's because it's set in Australia, Kyungsoo is a ChefTM, M/M, This is really how the 30-something-year-olds in my office talk so sue me, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 15:43:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17226806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunalius/pseuds/lunalius
Summary: The annual Christmas competition between the two marketing departments is on again, and this time the team of nine useless 30-somethings have to cook a feast. But Baekhyun is more focused on someone else.





	The Annual Marketing Division Christmas Competition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eggboyksoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggboyksoo/gifts).



> This fic is set in Australia, which is why it's so hot during Christmas. I don't know enough about how Koreans celebrate Christmas and what they eat so I had to resort to describing white people Christmas food (which I'm also unfamiliar with).  
> Merry Christmas?

From: kim.junmyeon@smelectronics.com  
To: MELBOURNE OFFICE -- MARKETING -- TRADITIONAL (9 recepients)  
Subject: CHRISTMAS PARTY

Hi all,

As you should all know by now, the company Christmas party is on the 16th, and that means so’s our annual Christmas competition with the digital marketing team! This year, Namjoon and I decided we’d see who can make the biggest and best Christmas feast. We’ll be bringing it into the office on the Friday before the party (that’s the 14th).

The feast will be judged based on three criteria:  
1\. The amount of food  
2\. The taste of the food  
3\. How Christmas-y the food is

Losing team has to come to the party in onesies and spend the entire day in it. We cannot afford to lose this competition. The forecast for that day is 38 degrees and I will not be cooking myself to death for a cooking contest.

I think we have upper hand here! There are 9 of us as opposed to their 7 so we can win on the amount of food at least! I’m sure we have enough Christmas spirit to win criteria #3 as well. I look forward to seeing what all of you bring to the Christmas party!

Happy cooking everyone!

Kim Junmyeon  
Manager of Traditional Marketing  
SM Electronics

……………

“Junmyeon knows none of us can cook, right?” Sehun hissed close to Baekhyun’s ear. Baekhyun didn’t even flinch –- Sehun liked to speak in conspiratorial whispers, as if he ever had anything important to say. Baekhyun knew for a fact that the youngest was just as loud as the rest of their department.

“He must know,” Baekhyun shrugged. “After Hawaii, he _has_ to know.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t.” Chanyeol wheeled his his way into Baekhyun’s space, and he immediately felt claustrophobic. Sehun was almost as large but he had a way of making himself seem small. Park Chanyeol, on the other hand…

Baekhyun compensated by swivelling around in his chair to face them and shamelessly swinging his leg onto the top of his table. “Explain.”

“Well,” Chanyeol’s an eyebrow raised, and he leaned in, waiting for the other two to lean in closer. “You know when someone experiences a traumatic event and they just forget?”

Sehun presses his palms together and presses them to the tip of his nose, nodding slowly. His mouth is wide open, eyes are unfocused and there are frown lines on his forehead. “Ahhhhh.”

Baekhyun has had enough.

“You guys are fucking morons,” Baekhyun announced loudly, enough to grab the attention of every one of the nine people in that office. “Hawaii wasn’t traumatic.”

“I’m told it was,” a low voice announces, source hanging his arms over the walls of Baekhyun’s cubicle. “Apparently there was a wasabi incident?”

“Wasabi incident is putting it lightly,” Baekhyun corrected. Next to him, Chanyeol visibly shivered. Sehun hadn’t moved for a whole minute. “But I wouldn’t call it _traumatic_.”

“That’s only because you’ve made worse,” Jongdae piped from opposite Baekhyun. Baekhyun couldn’t see him, but Jongdae didn’t need to be seen for his presence to be felt.

“Is it true though?” Kyungsoo adjusted his glasses, “That no one here can cook?”

Baekhyun snorted. “Please, how were we supposed to learn? Uni? None of us had enough time to even think about cooking.”

“I can cook,” Chanyeol interrupted weakly.

“Yes he can!” Jongin wheeled in out of nowhere, adding to Baekhyun’s growing feeling of discomfort. “Chanyeol makes fantastic fried chicken. Are we talking about the Christmas party?”

“We’re talking about the wasabi incident now,” Baekhyun replied.

Jongin’s (beautiful, perfect, sculpted by Michaeangelo itself) face morphed into a look of absolute horror. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“See! I told you it was traumatic.”

“Jongin, you can’t possibly be serious.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said seriously, “I’m a little concerned at just how much you’re underestimating how bad it was. You can’t just forget things like that. When you forget you allow history to repeat itself.”

“It’s because he’s made worse,” Jongdae repeated from the opposite cubicle. It really felt like every single one of them was right next to his ear.

“Who’s made what worse?” Yixing asked, walking past with glass of his disgusting afternoon kale, pineapple and almond milk smoothies, as was his scheduled lunch every Thursday.

“Baekhyun’s done things in his kitchen that turned out worse than the wasabi incident,” Jongdae offered helpfully.

Yixing threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter. “Really? You should bring your next attempt to work, Baekhyun!”

There’s a chorus of “NO” that Baekhyun is sure would be enough to pull either Junmyeon or Minseok out of their offices. (It only comes from three of them. Kyungsoo isn’t in the know, Yixing is amused, Baekhyun obviously doesn’t see what the deal is and Sehun hasn’t moved for five minutes now. But Chanyeol, Jongdae and Jongin already feel like a room full of 20 loud men.)

“You’re only so smug because the wasabi incident was _your_ fault, Yixing!” Jongin complained.

Yixing shrugged. “I don’t regret anything. We learnt something that day! You don’t put wasabi in crème brulée.”

Kyungsoo straightened up (although his expression didn’t change. It rarely ever did.) “You did _what_ to crème brulée?”

“Okay so, I signed up for Zumbo’s Just Desserts at the time and I wanted to get creative.”

“Did you get through?”

“No.”

“Hold on,” Jongdae actually stood up this time, looking much taller than he should, which meant he had probably climbed on top of his desk. Which meant he wanted to be seen. “I didn’t know you signed up for the Zumbo’s Just Desserts.”

“Oh, you know!” Yixing waved him away. “Just doing whatever I can to get famous. I just submitted my application for Survivor last night. Hope I get through!” 

Chanyeol leaped to his feet and roared, “ _And you didn’t tell me?_ ”

“ _What_ ,” – and one word was enough, really, for Minseok to have them all standing at attention, quivering in their leather dress shoes, bladders malfunctioning, but he chose to keep going – “Is going on here?”

There was a hierarchy when it came to answering questions from the boss and vice boss, as in any office environment. In SM Electronics’ Seoul office marketing division, it was Yixing, then it was Kyungsoo, then it was Baekhyun. It always stopped at Baekhyun because Baekhyun didn’t know how to keep his goddamn mouth shut.

Yixing shrugged and held up his glass of vomit. “Went to get lunch.”

Kyungsoo already had a stack of papers ready in his hands, placing them on Baekhyun’s desk. “Just came to deliver these. The commotion happened before I got here.” 

Baekhyun thought he could hold his peace this time, because, really, none of this was his problem, he didn’t start the yelling, this one time it was _not_ his problem, he didn’t have to bite the bullet for the rest of the team –

“We were discussing why Junmyeon decided on having our Christmas competition be a cooking one after having witnessed the wasabi incident first hand.”

Before Baekhyun could properly enjoy the way Minseok’s face crumbled, Sehun snapped his fingers getting everyone’s attention. “That’s right! He can’t possibly be traumatised if he wants us to cook again, because even if he did forget, there’d be something at the back of his mind warning him against it! I think he chose to do it because he’s hoping we could learn from our mistakes and better ourselves.”

There was an unmistakable clack of heels the entire time Sehun was talking, and the team looked up to see Junmyeon looking at all of them brokenly. “Namjoon chose the competition. He showed me a video of a crab he saw at the beach last weekend and weakened me and made me agree to it.” He locked eyes with all of them individually. “Please. Please don’t let him win again.”

……………

Baekhyun threw his blazer over his shoulder as he finally made his way out of the office at 6:01pm on the dot. It’s a weird time to leave – most people either booted it at 5 like they were all supposed to, or they stayed back till 7 if they were particularly dedicated. Baekhyun wasn’t dedicated (as much) – he just wanted to avoid the rush hour and also be paid over-time.

A hand stuck through the lift doors as they were closing, causing them to open again. Kyungsoo squeezed through even though he didn’t need to, he had plenty of room. “Hi,” he beamed.

Baekhyun wanted to disappear by flinging himself into the sun, but he decided making small talk was more polite. “Leaving so early?”

“Yes, Huchu has a vet appointment tonight.”

“Vet appointment? What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s thrown up the past few times she’s eaten. I hope it isn’t a stomach bug.”

Baekhyun only had a dog as a child and never had to actively deal with any of his health issues, so this was really alarming to him. “That sounds terrible!”

“Oh, dogs throw up all the time. It’s probably nothing, she’s just as active as ever. I just want to make sure it isn’t because she’s got something serious.”

“Better to be proactive than not, hey?”

“Hm.”

The elevator dinged and they strode out into the lobby. Baekhyun knew Kyungsoo parked in the same carpark he did from the two times they’d ever left the office together, so he kept pace with him.

“I’m guessing you won’t be bringing anything to the Christmas feast then?” Kyungsoo asked.

Baekhyun guffawed. “The best I can bring is myself in a sexy Santa suit. No, I think it’s for the best if I don’t contribute.”

“Junmyeon would probably kill you,” Kyungsoo nodded. “It shouldn’t be a problem, though. I love cooking. I’m happy to cook everyone’s share.”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “You can cook?”

“Yeah, it’s like a hobby. Passion. Whatever you want to call it,” Kyungsoo laughed. “Everyone says I should go on Masterchef.”

That’s it for Baekhyun, really. He’s never had high standards, all he needed was someone that could cook because he couldn’t do it to save his life. He didn’t need anything silly like someone who laughed at his jokes, because everyone laughed at his jokes. That his significant other would was a given. He was mostly tolerant of everything, so he really just wanted – _needed_ – someone who could cook.

Tie that to the fact that Baekhyun had been (very subtly) eyeing Kyungsoo for a year. The man was quiet and kept to himself, but he wasn’t unfriendly. He always had the team roaring with laughter at office parties, even if it was only for two hours because he’d always leave early. He had a perfectly round head, which Baekhyun was still in awe about.

So yeah. He was interested.

“I’d agree, but I’ve never actually eaten your cooking,” Baekhyun said, once he’d regained his composure. If he’d ever lost it. He definitely lost it in his head, he couldn’t say how much of that his body gave away.

Kyungsoo’s smile lessened for a beat and Baekhyun wasn’t sure what he said that could have put him off. He was being honest, wasn’t he? Was there some obscure social taboo he’d broken? Was it wrong in Kyungsoo’s culture?

“You’ll see during the Christmas party, then, won’t you?” Kyungsoo gave him that dreaded, awkward walking-past-a-white-man-on-your-evening-walk smile. “Anyway, my car’s over by that end, so I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun scratched his head. “Uh, drive safely! And I hope everything goes well with Huchu!”

Kyungsoo looked over his shoulder, that glaring, beaming smile back on his face and Baekhyun wanted to cry. “Of course! You too!”

It wasn’t until Baekhyun was safely in his car that he let out a loud, strangled groan. “Drive safely!” he yelled, “What was I thinking, I swear to fucking god –” He froze.

‘I’ve never actually eaten your cooking,’ could have been a subtle way of asking Kyungsoo to cook for him, which was weird and intimate and probably not the best pick-up line, even if it wasn’t intentional on Baekhyun’s end. He’d put the ball in Kyungsoo’s court when he didn’t even mean to, and the man had stone cold rejected him right to his face.

Baekhyun did not drive safely on his way home.

……………

**Chanyeol:**  
My chanyeol senses are tingling

**Baekhyun:**  
Dude it’s one in the morning why are you awake

**Chanyeol:**  
Am i ever not awake at 1am

**Baekhyun:**  
Point made  
Why are your chanyeol senses tingling  
Are you sure you’re not just horny

**Chanyeol:**  
Nah  
I’m sensing…oooooo i’m sensing…you’re going to ditch the christmas party tomorrow

**Baekhyun:**  
Damn chanyeol you’re killing it!

**Chanyeol:**  
OMG I’M RIGHT  
Wait  
YOU’RE NOT GOING TO THE CHRISTMAS PARTY

**Baekhyun:**  
Lmao  
Nah not feeling it  
I’ve been going to christmas parties all week  
I’m socially exhaustedPlus i just got back from babysitting my nephew while baekbom was at some dinner i’m too tired dude  
Besides i’m not even cooking anything so i’m like useless

**Chanyeol:**  
Bruh  
What the fuck are we supposed to do without you  
We’re gonna sit around like ducks  
You start all the fun stuff at every party

**Baekhyun:**  
I’m not the only one

**Chanyeol:**  
Besides weren’t you excited to hang out with Taehyung

**Baekhyun:**  
OMG  
MISS THAT GUY  
Ugh no i can’t go

**Chanyeol:**  
Ok what’s the other reason

**Baekhyun:**  
What do you mean hahah

**Chanyeol:**  
Bruh

**Baekhyun:**  
OK  
FINE i GUESS i’ll tell you if i MUST  
Like a few weeks ago kyungsoo and i were walking to the carpark did and he was talking about how he’s a really good cook and i was like “well i wouldn’t know bc i wouldn’t know what your cooking tastes like” because i don’t know right but then he got kind of weird and was like “uh ok you’ll try it at the christmas party” and then left and i think it’s because i looked like i unintentionally asked him out but I didn’t mean to?  
And now it’s awkward

**Chanyeol:**  
Hold on that’s a lot of words i need a minute  
Okay what

**Baekhyun:**  
I KNOW  
MY CONFIDENT GAY FACADE HAS BEEN SHATTERED  
I AM A LOSER

**Chanyeol:**  
No i mean why would you think that  
You were fine  
There’s nothing weird about that  
Plus you guys are totally fine at work i didn’t notice anything weird?

**Baekhyun:**  
Yeah lol i kind of forgot about it  
You know when someone experiences a traumatic event and then they just forget

**Chanyeol:**  
You’re way overthinking this bro  
I doubt he remembers  
I doubt he even thought you were asking him out or hitting on him

**Baekhyun:**  
I think you are wrong

**Chanyeol:**  
Think whatever you want just come to work tomorrow and enjoy the feast  
You can be antisocial on saturday  
I’m bringing lamb you won’t want to miss this

**Baekhyun:**  
HA  
It’s so funny that you think you can cook

**Chanyeol:**  
You Will See

………… 

Fridays were usually relatively casual anyway, but the Friday before the Christmas party was usually even more so. They went from business casual to smart casual. Baekhyun could not only wear chinos but roll them up, too.

Nevertheless, there were some people who adhered to the dress code on these days anyway – Kyungsoo, Minseok, Jongdae. Baekhyun had rarely every seen them out of their usual slacks and iron-pressed shirts, sleeves done at the cuff and buttoned right up to the top. He had, though, had the benefit of seeing Minseok and Jongdae outside of work when they were in Bali, so seeing them in casual wouldn’t have been as disconcerting. Not as much as Kyungsoo.

Needless to say, Kyungsoo in a loose purple button-up, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, glasses off, was sending Baekhyun to an early death.

Baekhyun felt useless standing by the massive table in the kitchen both the marketing departments shared. Every single person had brought something to eat, even if it was small. Chanyeol brought lamb like he said he would. Yixing brought pavlova. (“No wasabi,” he assured everyone.) Jongdae brought rice which he had apparently asked his mother how to make. Junmyeon brought a Christmas pudding that everyone suspected he didn’t make himself.

And Kyungsoo brought a feast, as promised. He sat and cooked nine meals for every single one of them, and got the help of friends from his old theatre days to bring them in. He made roast chicken, cold ham and mango chutney, a seafood platter, a sausage platter with sauerkraut, potato salad, falafel wraps, wedges prepared like nachos, lamingtons and his own pavlova. Baekhyun felt his jaw drop closer and closer to the ground as actor after actor came in to place the plate on the table and walk back out. None of them bothered making conversation, those actor types.

“Goodness,” a deep voice whispered in his ear. Baekhyun instantly recognised it as that of his twelfth favourite person in the world, Taeyhung. “Why does your team always have to be so extra?”

Baekhyun sighed. “It’s all Kyungsoo. All of this is from the one person.”

Taehyung whistled. “Jin would never do this for us.”

“Maybe if he cared about you guys enough.”

“Which one’s Kyungsoo anyway? Is that Jin’s friend that you have a crush on?”

“Oh my god, please keep your voice down,” Baekhyun hissed, “I don’t have crushes on anyone, I’m 31.”

“He’s lying,” Jongdae stage whispered, because he was incapable of actually whispering anything.

“He looks good today,” Taehyung mumbled. “No wonder you’ve been eyeing him for so long. I thought you were just a prude.”

“Fuck off.”

“Language! We’re in a professional environment.”

“Hey Baekhyun,” Chanyeol called, bounding over, “Have you tried my lamb yet?”

Baekhyun scoffed, “Yeah, like I’m putting anything you make into my mouth. I’m going to try everything else first.”

And so Baekhyun did. He carefully avoided anything Kyungsoo made in favour of reaching for Minseok’s barbecue prawn, thinking he’d just try Kyungsoo’s food later when he didn’t have to make conversation about it, when the devil himself strode up next to him.

“Have you tried the cold ham?” Kyungsoo reached over and passed Baekhyun a disposable plate. Baekhyun hated it. “I’ve never made it before but it’s hot today, so I thought it might be a good idea.”

“Cold meat is a little weird, if you ask me,” Baekhyun said, instead of something nice.

Kyungsoo shrugged. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”

So now Baekhyun had to try it. Reluctantly, he reached reached for the steak knife and prongs and struggled through cutting himself a slice. (He wasn’t white, and he’d never done this his entire life.)

“Have it with some of the mango chutney,” Kyungsoo said, dipping a spoon into the small bowl next to the cold ham and holding it up. Baekhyun held his plate forward and let Kyungsoo carefully spread the chutney over his slice of ham. His brow was only slightly furrowed in concentration and his lips were pulled in.

‘Please just fucking deck me,’ Baekhyun thought.

“What did you say?” Kyungsoo asked, and Baekhyun realised he hadn’t just thought it, he’d said it out loud. Alarm bells rang in his brain, and a tiny Chanyeol yelled “YOU STUPID CUNT” in with about the same volume as a real, live, 185 cm-Chanyeol would.

“I was babysitting yesterday, so I’m pretty out of it.” Baekhyun smiled weakly, hoping it just came across as tired. “I’m just having war flashbacks.”

“Ah.” Kyungsoo frowned. “Don’t you like kids?”

“Oh, no! I love children, they’re fantastic. But tiring. And not good for my back.”

Kyungsoo’s face relaxed into an easy grin. “Oh yeah. I don’t get to spend a lot of time with kids, so it’s even worse for me when I try.”

“Tell me about it! My brother’s kid is a real force of nature. He likes to rearrange my whole house every time he’s over.”

“For the love of god, can you two stop flirting and please try this guy’s lamb,” a voice grunted near their ear, causing Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to jump and Baekhyun to nearly drop his plate. Yoongi rarely ever spoke to the team at traditional marketing. (There was also what he actually said, but Baekhyun’s brain shut down when he attempted to unravel that and he needed to remain functional while he was still in the workplace.) “He won’t leave me alone.”

Baekhyun stared at a blank spot on the wall for a few seconds as Yoongi walked away before turning his gaze back on Kyungsoo. “I think I’ll take your cold ham over anything Chanyeol makes.”

Kyungsoo snorts. “Eat it, then.” 

Baekhyun does so. He said he didn’t like cold meat but _damn_ , was this better than expected. Baekhyun didn’t know any food could taste this good, let alone a slice of ham and some mango chutney. Kyungsoo had done something to that chutney — added some kind of spice or freaking cinnamon or whatever (Baekhyun was no cook) that made it taste extra special — and Baekhyun felt like he wouldn’t be content until every single one of his veins and arteries were filled with it.

“Wow,” he said, instead of all of that.

“Do you like it?”

“Like it? I _love_ it. I’m gonna need you to cook like this for me every day.” Baekhyun grinned and Kyungsoo did not grin back, and that’s when the penny dropped. “I mean. For the office, you know.”

Chanyeol’s voice was back in his head again, screaming “YOU ACTUAL FUCKING MORON” this time. Baekhyun was glad for it, because that meant he didn’t have to concentrate on the rest of the marketing team who were probably looking at them. (Baekhyun did end up doing a quick sweep of the room, because once the seed of other people watching him was planted, he couldn’t shake it off. Everyone was only pretending to mind their own business and act normal — Jongdae doing lunges a few feet away was a tell-tale sign — but he supposed that was the most he could ask for.)

“I think it’d be a little tough to be cooking this much every day,” Kyungsoo finally said, voice low, face void of the earlier surprise. It seemed serious, but there was a smile in his eyes that made Baekhyun think otherwise. “I’m much better off cooking for just two.”

Baekhyun frowned. “Two?”

“You and me. I need to eat too, don’t I?”

“True.” Baekhyun nodded, hastily setting his paper plate on the table and backing away quickly. “Sorry, I have to leave right now so I can go die.”

Baekhyun ran with his tail between his legs, out the kitchen, out the office, to the elevator to the ground floor lobby and right out the main doors of his office building. Baekhyun was halfway across the car park to his car when he heard the heavy thud of footsteps coming behind him.

“Don’t run so fast!” Kyungsoo wheezed, stopping when Baekhyun turned around to catch his breath. “It’s hot and I haven’t exercised in about a year… ouch.” Kyungsoo clutched his side. “Stitches.”

“Hey!” Baekhyun yelped, rushing back to where Kyungsoo was hunched over. “Why’d you come running after me like that?”

“Because, you _dickhead_ , I was in the middle of asking you out.” Kyungsoo took a deep breath and exhaled very, very slowly, making Baekhyun want to pull out enough hair to look the same amount of bald that he did. “Kind of messed up that you decided you’d try and die on me in the middle of that, you know?”

What Baekhyun wanted to respond with, after a good long minute of trying to gather his brain processes together, was “You wanted to ask me out?” but because his throat was dry, it came out as a gargled, unintelligible noise.

“I’m afraid I don’t speak animal.”

Baekhyun swallowed. “Why are you asking me out?”

Kyungsoo tilted his head. “Because I’m attracted to you? Isn’t that generally why one asks someone out?”

“Well, yeah but…” Baekhyun waved his hands in the air as if that explained everything.

“I don’t know what that means, but are you free tonight?”

Baekhyun’s brain went into autopilot. “Yeah.”

“Good! How about you come over to my place at 7 and I can make us dinner?”

“Sounds scandalous.”

“I intend it to be.”

“Good.”

“Do you want to go back to the party or are we just going to stand here?”

That snapped Baekhyun out of his reverie. “Go back to the party? With all of those assholes? I don’t bloody think so! Not to mention Chanyeol is probably going to force feed us his lamb, and I don’t actually want to die despite what I said earlier.”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “Chanyeol’s cooking is actually pretty good. You should try it one day.”

“Please, when was he supposed to learn how to cook? Uni?” Baekhyun froze. “Hang on a second, when have you tried Chanyeol’s cooking?”

“Hm? Oh, didn’t Chanyeol tell you? We’ve known each other since high school.”

“…What.”

“We didn’t go to the same school, but we went to the same guitar class. We had this cover channel together on YouTube. Are you sure Chanyeol didn’t mention it to you?”

If Baekhyun were being honest, he wouldn’t actually know if Chanyeol had brought it up or not because he tuned out half of what his uni best friend told him. But Baekhyun wasn’t being honest. “That _motherfucker_.”

There was a brief awkward silence before Kyungsoo shifted on his feet. “So… you gonna go back in there and fight him, or?”

“Never. Not going back in there.” Baekhyun didn’t actually remember why he didn’t want to go back to the Christmas competition until he suddenly realised it was because Kyungsoo had kind of started to ask him out in front of everyone inside. And then he finished asking him out in the parking lot (semi-private). Those were real thing that happened.

And then a lightbulb switched on in his brain.

“Hey,” he reached out and squeezed Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “You wanna ditch and go to a beach or some hike or something dumb like that?”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow but his smile widened. “Sounds scandalous.”

“I intend it to be.”

“Good.” Kyungsoo slipped a hand into his. “I’d love to.”

……………

From: kim.junmyeon@smelectronics.com  
To: MELBOURNE OFFICE — MARKETING — TRADITIONAL (9 recipients)  
Subject: CHRISTMAS FEAST VICTORY!  
  
Hi all,  
  
Congratulations on winning the Christmas feast! I can’t believe we made it! (I really cannot believe we made it.) Thank you to everyone who made a contribution to today’s feast.  
  
There are a few people in particular I would like to give special mention to:  
1\. Kyungsoo, for cooking almost everything and cooking all of it fantastically  
2\. Jongdae, for his mother’s rice  
3\. Yixing, for not putting wasabi in his dessert  
4\. Namjoon, for his uncooked Christmas pudding  
5\. Chanyeol, for winning best dish of the day with his lamb! Congratulations!  
6\. Kyungsoo (again) and Baekhyun for providing us with fantastic entertainment  
  
Great job again! I look forward to seeing digital marketing team in onesies on Sunday.  
  
I hope everyone has a good weekend.  
  
Kim Junmyeon  
Manager of Traditional Marketing  
SM Electronics

**Author's Note:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/singledadjohnny)   
>  [Curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/singledadjohnny)


End file.
